The Return to Amazon Falls
by Jet MacLeod
Summary: New scrolls have been found and Dr. Covington is looking for the last known place Gabrielle went, Amazon Falls. Hidden from the world for thousands of years, she finally has idea of where it is and what it might contain. But the journey will be hard and long, and she's going to need help on the way. Can she find her ancestor's resting place among the Amazons?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

She ducked her head under the shower spray. She didn't know how she'd gotten like this. She was beginning to hate teaching. The grad students didn't care about history anymore and the undergrads wanted everything spoon fed to them. No one wanted to take the time to learn, to research, to verify anything. They just wanted it to be.

She couldn't believe how much she missed her grandmother. Being the granddaughter of the famous Greek Archeologist Dr. Janice Covington had made her collegiate career fun. She'd gotten to go on digs. She'd learned more about Greece than most Greeks knew. She enjoyed her summers digging around in old caves and areas. She knew that every summer she was going to Greece, but then her grandmother died. She was still in Grad school at BCU. As prestigious as the school was, she had to prove herself to her professors. She had to prove to the boards that she truly was a "Covington" and worthy of their support.

Now, she was the head of the Ancient History department at BCU. She was the lead researcher and her annual sabbatical was coming. She didn't have a dig lined up this year, though. She had nothing. And, the Covington Historical Research Society wasn't going to fund her if she didn't come up with something quick. But, she still had bupkis. She was the generation to use the CHRS and she had jack shit.

"Grandma would be so proud," she mused as she turned around under the high powered spray.

She let out a huff and went about washing her hair. She couldn't just stay under the hot water, no matter how good it felt, all day. She heard some arguing in the hall way just outside her bathroom, but she didn't pay it any mind when she heard Ashby's voice. She knew that he would take care of whatever problem was out there and she continued her shower.

Minutes later, Ashby opened the door and called out for her.

"Doctor Covington?"

"Yes, Ashby?"

"There is someone insisting on seeing you."

"Who?"

"He says that his name is Ares Spiros," Ashby answered.

She thought about the name. It rang some bells, but she couldn't a face to go with it. Then it hit her. He was her grandmother's last Grad student. She'd read his thesis. He had potential but after her grandmother's death he'd fallen the radar.

"What does he want?" she called back.

"He says that he found Amazon Falls."

She stopped showering. She grabbed a towel off the rack on the wall. She quickly wrapped it around her body and ran for the bathroom door. Once there, she ripped the door open and found herself, dripping and wrapped in the towel, staring at Ashby.

"He what?"

"He said that he's found Amazon Falls."

"Where is he now?" she asked.

"I left him downstairs in the foyer. He agreed to wait there for me. Where would you like me to put him? Your office?"

"NO!" she exclaimed as she hurried down the hallway to her bedroom. She knew that Ashby was following her. He said nothing as they entered her room and she went straight for her closet. "Take him to the parlor. I don't want him in my office yet. I have to see what he has. Get him something to drink. I'll be there, soon."

"Yes, ma'am," Ashby replied.

"Oh, and Ashby," she said as she threw the towel out of the closet and at the chair near her bed.

"Yes, ma'am?"

"Can you get me a glass of water and something stronger?"

"A martini, ma'am?"

"Not that strong?"

"I'll have the shot waiting with your water, ma'am," Ashby replied.

"Thanks, Ashby."

"It is no problem, Alena," he stated as he walked out the door and quietly shut it.

She heard the door shut as she looked around it to fuss at Ashby for using her first name. She shook her head as she finished drying off and dressing. She'd have fired him years ago when she inherited "Convington Manor," but he was just too loyal to the family. He'd been with her grandmother, Janice as she was dying and for that reason alone, she kept him. He would still tell her stories of her father and her grandmother. They made her happy.

When she felt ready to face this Ares person in her house with knowledge of something that was little more than myth, she went downstairs to meet him. She'd only seen him in photos from her grandmother's excursions. The photos didn't do him justice. Her was an Adonis and damn it if that didn't draw her in.

"Dr. Covington?" the man asked as she entered the parlor unannounced.

"For some things, yes, I am Dr. Covington."

"I need your help."

"Ashby mentioned something about Amazon Falls," Alena replied.

"Yes, well, I've gone over the texts that your grandmother and I found on Lesbos."

"Texts?"

"Yes, they were related to the Xena Scrolls and later the Gabrielle Scrolls," Ares told her.

"Go on," she told him as she took the shot of whatever Ashby had left her.

"The Gabrielle Scrolls speak of Amazon Falls."

"Yes, the place that the Amazons fled after Rome tried to wipe the out. They'd merged with the Northern Tribes from Russia and the steppes. I know all this. Supposedly, Gabrielle and Eve found an island that they could inhabit without any outside interference, but it doesn't exist," Alena told him.

"But, it does."

She looked at him skeptically. She'd been scouring maps since she was little to find it. Every new piece of information that her grandmother had brought home gave her new hope, but she never found it. It was her Holy Grail. She gave time and resources to it, but still even with her digs and new information, she couldn't find it.

"Where?"

"To the west of Britain."

"Ireland?"

"No, but yes, think a little more west," he replied.

"Why wouldn't it be in the Mediterranean?" she asked.

"Easy, it would have been found. Gabrielle used all her contacts thanks to Xena to help the clans of Amazons. They all knew that eventually 'man' would destroy them completely. They needed some where to go and they found it. Mostly by accident, but they found a place that they could settle. Gabrielle wrote about it during her travels with Eve. She knew that they would have to keep a secret so she used code."

"Well that much is obvious," Alena replied.

"Yeah, well, we all fell for it."

"Meaning?"

"We were using Latin translations. The Greek was translated into Latin and that is what we based it on. By the time that she was writing them, Latin would have been the universal language and not Greek. Aramaic would have been lost, too. We know that Gabrielle at a minimum spoke Latin, Greek, Egyptian and Aramaic. But, we know that Xena knew more. So it would have been feasible for Gabrielle to have learned the other languages, too. Xena was more traveled, but Gabrielle knew what to do. She hid the answer in the text and no one saw it."

"So, what was it?" Alena asked him.

"Norse Runes," Ares answered.

She looked at him like he had four heads. And, then her head snapped backed. She felt like an idiot. She knew from the writings that Gabrielle had no love for Rome, so why would she use Roman words to hide the location of the Amazons. She knew that Gabrielle and Xena had met Beowulf. It made sense in a way when nothing else did. She jumped up from the seat she'd taken.

"Follow me," she instructed as she walked out of the parlor and into her study.

The room, once her grandmother's, looked nothing like anyone would believe. There were large screens on the walls and two centralized computers. There were scrolls being decoded and translated on one of the screens by a program that Janice and Alena had both written. There were pictures of the digs, maps of ancient Greece, Rome, and the Mediterranean. Artworks from Greco-Roman times to modern decorated the dark wood in-layed walls. The lush carpet was dark, money green. There were weapons and suits of armor. If Ares hadn't known that he was in the Covington Manor, he would have thought he was some museum backroom.

"What is this?" he asked as she went to one of the computers and began pulling up the Gabrielle Scrolls in question.

"My office," she said quickly.

"This is your office?"

"Well, yes, I have one on campus, but I don't use it that often. Well, only for classes and office hours for my students. Speaking of students, what are you doing about your graduate thesis? You disappears years ago only to come to me today? Why?" she questioned him as she continued to type.

He watched as she pulled up a map of Ancient Europe. She moved in closer on Greece and then also on Britannia. She zoomed out a little as she read the scroll.

"Go west towards Iceland and you'll find it. It is a tiny speck on a modern map, but you won't see it on that one. Overlay it with a modern map and you'll see it."

She did as asked. She highlighted the area in question and zoomed in. There clear as day was "Krigerøen."

"Warrior Island?"

"It was the name that the Vikings gave it. Many people just believed that was where ships sailed and were lost. It was so named after all the warriors lost at sea. Problem is, no Viking ever set foot on the island or if they did, they never left alive to talk about it. Vikings stirred clear of it, believing that it was cursed by the gods. They called it 'Ghost Island'," he told her.

"And over time the story expanded and no one tried to colonize it," she theorized.

"Seems that way. The Scots even have stories about it. They called it ' _oileán longréitigh_.' Like I said, no one that's landed has ever come home."

"Shipwreck island...wonder what we would find there besides some rocks in the middle of the sea," she mused not really paying attention to him anymore.

She continued to read the scrolls that were about the mysterious place that Gabrielle and Eve had dubbed Amazon Falls. She looked for anything else that might tell her more about the place. But nothing had changed in its description. The text still read like it had when Gabrielle wrote it thousands of years ago, but somehow Ares decoded the hidden message.

"How?"

"How what?" he replied.

"Where did you see the runes to break the code?" she asked him.

"May I?" he asked as he pointed to the computer in front of her.

She gestured for him to go ahead. He quickly figured out the program that she had the scrolls entered into and their translations. He pulled up the original file of the scroll and zoomed in on the text to the right of the Greek words. As it came into focus, she could finally see some small glyphs. Upon closer inspection, she finally saw what they were. Norse Runes and they were the exact location of the island.

"How did we miss that?"

"You did the same thing that we all did upon reading them. We took them at face value. The writing on the scroll is obvious a mixture of Eve and Gabrielle. You can tell that here," he told as he pointed to the large screen in front of them. "The handwriting changes. It's slight, but a graphologist would see the difference. We didn't because we weren't looking for it. I think that Eve altered the scrolls after Gabrielle died. I had the rest of the runes from this scroll and others translated. At first I thought they were gibberish until I put them all together."

"Are they not in order?"

"No, they aren't. Eve was smart. She used the Runes because she knew that anyone that read them would discount them as doodles and such. It was the key to it all."

"What do you mean?"

"On what you call Gabrielle Scroll thirty, Gabrielle is talking about traveling with Eve back to Greece to see Sarah in Poteidia. Something must have happened on the way, because the voice changes. I think something happened to Gabrielle's hands or hand. Eve starts writing. They visit Pella and then talk about going back to Amazonia. But, it was gone. They knew it was gone. The Greek Amazons were very few, but there were other tribes."

"Yes, but what does that matter?"

"Gabrielle was still a queen and Eve was her Amazonian daughter. Which meant that Eve would take her rite of caste should anything happen to Gabrielle. Eve talks about taking Gabrielle home to her sisters, plural, not to Lila and Sarah. They went back to the island and it is the last scroll that discusses Amazonia. The rest are just recounts of Xena's adventures or Eve's teaching. They aren't in chronological order and Eve used that to hide the truth."

"Okay, so if this right, we should just go."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"I am not a woman. By the tales, if I tried, I would be murdered on the spot or die on the island with no hope of ever seeing the mainland again. I cannot go with you."

"Then, why would you bring me this information."

"Because only a true Amazon can find it."

"Okay, well where would we find that?" Alena asked him.

"Well, Dr. Covington, being that you are a desendant of Gabrielle, you already qualify."

"Okay..."

"But, I think that it would be better if you had a descendant of Xena with you."

"Eve had kids?"

"She must have or your grandmother's translator, Melinda Pappas would have existed."

"Okay, but Mel didn't have any kids."

"But, her sister did," Ares told her.

"Who?"

"Melinda had a younger sister named Athena. They weren't that close. And, after Athena married she basically disowned the Pappas family because of Melinda helping Janice translate."

"Why?"

"Ask her husband," Ares stated.

"So, I need to find her granddaughter?"

"Yep," Ares replied.

"Where is she?"

"I don't know. All I have is name. She was a Greek national until she began fighting in her early twenties. I lost her then."

"Got a name?" Alena asked him.

"Xora Pappas," he answered.

"Then, we find her. Go get your notes. Write up a thesis and get it to me soon. I have a feeling that you will be co-writing any papers on this with me. Which means that I will get your either your graduate or your doctorate, depending on how lengthy this gets. Go. Go. We have work to do," Alena told him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Alena sat at her desk. She had been going over all the scrolls again. Well, at least all the Gabrielle scrolls that told of Gabrielle's adventures after Xena's death. She was cataloging all the Norse Runes. Amazed that she had missed that in all her time looking at them with her Grandmother Janice. She felt like a fool, but none of the Norse runes made since until she'd put them in order with Ares' help.

She concluded that Eve was smarter than anyone thought. She was Xena's daughter after all and the reformed "Livia." She had to have her wits about her at all times. Being the former conqueror of Rome meant that she had to be able to strategize on her feet and quickly. She'd waged war for Rome, a lot, and won. She wasn't just Octavian's lover and general. She was his confidant and someone who helped him shape the very nature of Rome. She was the most important woman in Roman history. To believe that she wouldn't have found a way to hide some truth among the scrolls was very short sighted on their part.

Eve was a smart woman. She was Xena's daughter and she was fiercely loyal to both Xena and Gabrielle. This loyalty would have held over to the Amazons, those that had survived the Roman slaughter. She would have been seen as an outsider and not worthy of being in Amazon territory. It would have been Gabrielle that forced her upon them, as she was Gabrielle's heir to the Grecian Amazonian throne. Eve might have chosen to pass her Right of Caste to another Amazon, but she could have kept her birthright as an Amazonian. No one was really sure on that.

Alena scoured the runes until she found a timeline. They didn't follow the scrolls time line. It was another one of Eve's tricks to hide the obvious. What they had believed was just Gabrielle's musings in Norse was really another tale all together. Eve was reaching out through the centuries to whomever would listen. Janice and a young Alena were listening, but they weren't getting the full picture.

Ares had figured out the code from the one scroll that Gabrielle used to describe moving the Amazons away from the mainland of Roman rule. She used very descriptive words, but she never gave an actual location or direction in which she took the tribe. Believing that Gabrielle would have kept them close but out of Roman occupation, she had a limited choices. Egypt would have been good except is was now part of Rome. Persia would have been a disaster. India would have been okay, but it was too far away, like Chin and Jappa. All three which bore bad memories for the Amazonian Queen. No, the Bard would have traveled somewhere closer, but safe. Considering the bountiful and plentiful wars with Britannia and barbarians of Germany and Gaul, Europe as a whole wasn't looking too good either. But, the runes told it all. They went North and then West until they found an island that no man dared to set foot upon.

Alena knew. She knew from research and digging. She knew from reading and analyzing. But, she still didn't see it. Most of the time, there was truth in the stories. Legends were told. They would change throughout the years as they were passed down from generation to generation, but the main part of the story remained true. Get to the truth and find the answers that you seek. Eve had left a trail on Gabrielle's parchments.

It was obvious that the ink was old and not of the same quality of Gabrielle's, but maybe that is was why Alena hadn't paid that much attention to it. Alena had it tested immediately. Some of the runes were faded, but thanks to science and technology, she now had what she was dubbing the "Eve Runes." It wove a tale of Xena's daughter after she found a bruised and battered Gabrielle in Roman Arabia. There were no scrolls to say how Gabrielle got there. Perhaps there was no need. But, out of the fifty scrolls, thirty contained runes. Thirty scrolls bore some testaments of Eve trying to help her other mother get "home." They were sad in script, but it gave Alena more to work with.

"What have you found?" Ares asked as he walked into her home office.

"Eve was troubled by Gabrielle's mindset. She was worried. It was one of the reasons she abandoned her teachings of Eli is the Far East. She was following Gabrielle to protect her in her own way."

"But, Eve gave up violence. How would she have protected Gabrielle in fight? She wouldn't even defend herself in the end. She hated even teaching Varia how to do certain moves that she's learned as Livia. She was very much against fighting, even for the Greater Good," Ares replied.

"Gabrielle tried that once."

"It didn't stick either. She was also known at the Battling Bard, besides being an Amazonian Queen. Have you found evidence that Eve took up arms, again?"

"No, but there is something troubling in her accounts."

"What?"

"She talks about a place to the North. I'm trying to locate it, but it isn't the island. And, she doesn't refer to it as part of Amazonian lands. She is very clear that it isn't. It is somewhere in Norse lands, but it doesn't really make sense. It sounds like a depot or a place that she placed a cache of some sort. She refers to it as Livia's last stand," Alena told him.

"That is the exact verbage?"

"Yes, why?" Alena questioned.

"I know where it is."

"You do?"

"Yes."

"Where?" Alena asked.

"When Xena told Livia that she was really Eve and her daughter, Livia fought against it. Ares was confused, but elated that he'd not only gotten the Warrior Princess back but her Roman General daughter, too. He tried to get them to both serve him and when that didn't work, he pitted them against each other. When Xena realized that she might have to kill her own daughter for the Greater Good, she went a little ballistic. Gabrielle was afraid that she might just join Eve so that she wouldn't have to kill her. In the end, Xena and Eve fought. It was that fight that destroyed Livia and Eve was reborn."

"Yes, I know all that, but that wasn't Livia's last stand. There was nothing in Rome or the whole of Italy that anyone, including my family, has found about her. So it isn't there. Where would it have been?"

"She was fighting a campaign to the West in northern Germania. Now that would have been just south of Denmark. She was starting campaigns against the Norse and the Russ. She was called back to Rome because Augustus wanted to marry her. In the end as you know, he did marry a Livia, but it wasn't his Dux Praetor. It was his cousin or something. He changed her name from Livia to Julia Augusta."

"I've read about her. But, the Romans feel for it. They lost their general and earned a empress?"

"They didn't know any better. Only the Praetorian Guard knew who Livia really was. And, Julia was very good in building her reputation and keeping her position. She didn't back down and her own sons hated her for it. But, Livia, the Dux Praetor, had dug in Germania. There are slight references to her, but mostly it is hatred. The Germans hated her," Ares explained.

"I can imagine. She wasn't known for her sympathy. But, that still doesn't explain a place that would have been a cache she referred to as 'Livia's Last Stand'," Alena replied.

"It would if she was called back to Rome by the Emperor. She would have left a Legat in charge and run home to Rome. She would have placed certain items in a cave or something like it. She would have hidden these items. They would have been some weapons, armor, and correspondence with Rome and her commanders. She would have left it somewhere safe because she believed that she would have been returning to the front. She had no idea that the reason she was called back to Rome was to become Augustus' wife. I doubt she would have taken the title until after she completed the campaign anyway. It is that cache that she would have returned to in order to help Gabrielle and the Amazons. It would have outfitted them for a battle and given them some much needed protection from Rome. The Germans would have left it alone. They wouldn't have found it or if they did, they would have ignored it except for the maps," Ares told her.

"Why just the maps?"

"Because the Roman weapons were inferior to theirs. They would have used them for training and not much else. The shields and armor would have been taken, but if like I suspect, Eve took Gabrielle there to supply the Amazons before they settled on the island. She would have left any parchments and such because they wouldn't really be needed. Meaning that if the German's eventually found the cache, it would have already been raided. And, the maps would show them where they could engage the Romans without too much hassle. It would tell them which towns weren't as heavily guarded or outfitted."

"Smart. So, it was a place that she could retire to if need be. Smart. She was prepared."

"She really was."

"Okay, so we need to find this place and see what we can salvage from it. It would be our best bet in finding our way into the island. Got a location?"

"I might, but that isn't the main issue here. We still need to find a descendant of Xena. We know that you are Gabrielle's descendant. But, we still need a line through Xena. Without I doubt that you'll be able to get to the island safely, or leave it, if you believe all the tales about it," Ares told her.

"We're still working on it. I have the CHRS looking into it. Besides, it shouldn't be that hard to find a Xora Pappas. That isn't a very common name," Alena stated.

"It might not be in the States, but she holds dual citizenship. It is a very Greek name. And, she changed it to that. So..."

"Don't worry, I've got my best men on it. We'll find her. But, we need to get to Denmark and find that cache. So, where are we going?" Alena pushed onward.

"It is in Northern Germany. The town is called _Tönning_. It is on the coast and very near the Danish boarder. IT's very cold there and very wet. So, whatever we are looking for would have had to survived floods, wars, and many sieges," Ares answered.

"Then, we need to find areas of interest. Start looking for that while I finish with Eve's musings. Tomorrow, I'll write up a proposal and secure funds. Before the end of summer, we'll be there. Hopefully, we'll also have what we need for us to find the island as well."

"Do you really think that it'll be that easy?"

"No, of course not. This is Xena's daughter and a general of Rome. I expect that this is going to be very hard. But, the one thing that I am glad about in this venture is that my grandmother made me learn languages. So, we should be good in that area. Besides, I am not letting you off that easy, Ares. You're coming with me. How else are you going to finish your thesis?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"I've got it!" Ares yelled as he came into Alena's office.

"You've got what?"

"I found Xena's descendant. Seems that after everything with Melinda and Janice, that the Pappas distanced themselves from the Covingtons, but I know that you already knew that. Looks like Xora Pappas was the name that she used publicly. Her line flows through Melinda's sister Athena. It seems that Athena married a man named Nicodemus Costas. Costas kept her away from the family and cut all ties with the Pappases. When Nicodemus died, she took her son home. By then, Mel was dead and Melinda was in Greece. Athena moved to Melinda's estate with her son Gabriel Nicholas Costas. Gabriel had a single daughter fully named Xora Gabrielle Pappas Costas," Ares told her.

"So what does this have to do with finding Xora?"

"She has dual citizenship with Greece and America. She served in the Grecian Navy. She was part of a helicopter crew, a gunner, I believe. When she was serving, she dropped the Pappas from her name. After her service, she got into boxing and MMA. She boxed under the name of Xora Pappas."

"Again, this tells us where she is now, how?" Alena asked him.

"Xora Pappas stopped fighting in 2013. She was twenty-eight years old. No one has seen her since."

"Why?"

"In her last boxing bout, she killed the other fighter. It was ruled an accident, but she hung up her gloves. Xora Pappas disappeared, but I kept looking with her full name. I found her at a boxing club in Atlanta. She is a coach and is going by Gabby Costas. I've confirmed with the local authorities, thru some friends that it is her."

"So I guess we're heading to Atlanta on our way to Germany?" Alena replied.

"It seems that way," Ares answered.

"I'll make the preparations," she told him and went back to the scrolls she had.

* * *

After two hours trying to get out of the airport, Alena and Ares were making their way through downtown traffic in Atlanta. She was using a GPS device to find her way to the boxing gym that Xora was working at. She wondered how she looked. She wondered how tall she was or if she resembled Melinda in anyway. She didn't like going into things blind but there was no other way to do it. They'd tried to get a number for Gabby Costas or any variation of her name and came up with nothing. The only thing that they had conclusively was that she was working at the gym.

They pulled up to the gym and sat in the car. She let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding. There was so much that she would want to say, but she didn't know where to begin. Instead, she sat there and tried to figure out how to convince Gabby Costas to come with them. She took another deep breath and let it out as she got out of the car. Ares opted to wait.

She opened the steel door to the gym and walked inside. She was immediately greeted with the sounds of fighting, the smells of leather and sweat, and the sight of many potential golden glove recipients working out. She saw a small office towards the back and began to head towards it. On her way, she passed a ring where two boxers were fighting. She watched them for a minute.

One of the boxers was short statured but they were agile and quick. The other boxer was solid and heavy. She couldn't tell but she wanted to say that it was a woman fighting a man. She shook off the thought as she made it to the office.

"Can I help you?" the man in the office asked after she knocked on the door frame.

"I'm looking for someone," she told him.

The man was sitting behind a dark wooden desk. His legs were propped up on it and he was reading the paper. He looked up at a clock on the wall before dropping his feet and leaning forward. The chair he was sitting in gave a loud squeak and groan, as it was protesting the quick movement in its old age. He looked at her with his old grey eyes as he looked her up and down. She could tell that he was sizing her up and deciding that she wouldn't be a good fighter.

"Aren't we all, honey? Need a trainer? Or, is it something else?" he asked her as he stood up from behind the desk.

"I am looking for Gabby Costas," she answered.

"Gabby?"

"Yeah."

"Hold on, then, sweet heart. I don't know what you need her for. I got better coaches," he stated as she moved passed her and back into the belly of the gym.

He walked up to the ring and rang the bell. The fighters stopped immediately and turned to look at him. He waved the shorter one over. That was when Alena realized that she was Gabby. He said something to her and then pointed at Alena. Gabby shook her head and started to come out of the ring through the ropes. She was grabbing at her gloves, trying to take them off as she neared Alena. Alena was a little taken aback by her beauty and the fury she saw in her eyes.

"You wanted me?" she asked Alena.

"Ye...yes. I need to talk to you something," Alena replied, hating herself for stumbling over her words, and then added for the owner's sake, "Privately."

"This way," Gabby told her as she headed to the other side of the gym.

Alena followed her into a make shift locker room. She assumed that this was the ladies room. It was more like a storage closet with a small set of lockers. Three to be exact and a small bench. It wasn't that big, but it was big enough to hold maybe four or five people at a time. She turned around and saw a mirror on one of the walls. Below it was a sink that was obviously an afterthought for the gym.

Alena watched as she sat down on the small bench. She dropped her bright red gloves on the floor in front of the lockers. She turned up and looked at Alena. Her eyes were striking. They weren't blue, but they weren't green. They were some shade of teal and very vibrant.

"You wanted to talk?" Gabby asked as she gave Alena a look.

"Oh, yes."

"About?"

"How much do you know about your family's history?" Alena questioned.

"Wait a minute, who the hell are you? And, what does my family have to do with this? Do I know you?"

"You're right. Introductions should be done first. My name is Doctor Alena Covington Lambert. My grandmother and your Great-aunt Melinda were good friends."

"Aunt Mel?"

"Yes."

Gabby looked her up and down. It was like she was trying to find something in the other woman. She squinted and then stood up. She got right up in Alena's personal space, toe to toe, eye to eye.

"What about her?"

"Do you know what she was working on in Greece?"

"Some bullshit history stuff. Papa tried to explain it to me, but Pappous didn't like the Covingtons for some reason. We didn't know a lot about what Melinda did. Just know that it was some crazy history thing and it cost her a lot in life to pursue it. Papa never asked too much, but after Pappous died, Gia tried to tell us."

"Your 'Gia' was Athena, right?"

"Yeah, she was. She was a good woman, but Pappous kept her so sheltered. She was never like Aunt Mel, but she wasn't the same after Pappous died, either."

"I can imagine not. Did you ever look into what your Aunt Mel had been doing? Do you know anything about it?" Alena asked her.

"No, it didn't seem to be important. Papa was too busy trying to keep food on the table and take care of us. He kept some of her things in a trunk just south of Nea Potidaea. Even after my service, it didn't seem important and I left it at Gia's place there."

"Do you still own the property?" Alena asked with a crazy amount of excitement.

"I'm sorry."

"No, I am sorry. I would love to see what ever you have left from your Aunt Mel. It might help me with my latest endeavor."

"Which is?" Gabby asked her.

"I'm looking for the lost Island of the Amazons."

"Right, because that exists. Look. I don't know what you want from me, but I don't have anything really to help you. I can't tell you anything. And, if Aunt Mel had anything, it's in Greece. I'm not going there just for that," Gabby explained.

"I'll pay you."

"What?!"

"I'll pay you to come along with me."

"To Greece?"

"Yes, among other places if your willing."

"Who are you again?"

"My name is Alena Covington Lambert, but I am more widely known as Dr. Al Covington."

"So, Gia wasn't kidding about the Covingtons, was she?"

"Umm...no?"

Gabby hung her head. She reached over and opened the locker. She dug around in a duffle bag and pulled out a small wallet of pictures. She flipped through them until she found a picture of Melinda and Janice.

"Pappous always hated this picture. Gia had it hidden. I always wondered what they were thinking about in that picture and what they were working on. I couldn't tell and no one knew where that was taken," Gabby told her.

"I know."

"You do?"

"Yes, that was taken just outside of one of my Grandmother's dig sites in Greece. It was south of Larissa, but near the coast. I believe that they found one of the temples dedicated to the Fates. Grandma wrote a lot about it, but it was gone before I could see it. She had fond memories of that dig and others that she did with Melinda," Alena told her.

"This is my history and I know nothing of it."

"Come with me. Help me and I'll help you find out more about your Aunt Melinda and your family."

"Why do you need me so much? What is it about me? I am just a broken fighter who refuses to fight. I'm a killer. I am not even proud of my name anymore. Why me?"

"Because of who you are. You are Melinda's heir. You are the last descendant of her line."

"And, that's important?"

"It might be. I need to try something, but I'll need you to come with me to see if it works. Besides, your Aunt Mel might have left something for you. And, if she did, I'll be able to read it and it might help me as well."

"I don't know."

"It's a free trip to Greece. How long has it been since you've been home? Hmm?"

"I haven't been to Potidaea in years, but it isn't home. Home is more towards the north. That is where I want to go," Gabby replied.

"I think I can make that happen," Alena told her.

"You'll really take me to Pella and then to Amfipoli?"

"Yes, I will if you agree to come."

"Can I think about it?"

"Sure. I know that this is strange and sudden. You have other plans. I get it. I would be hesitant, too. I'll be at the Westin at Peachtree Plaza," Alena stated as she reached into her back pocket and produced a wallet. She thumbed through it until she found what she was looking for. She handed the card to Gabby. "Call the number on the card when you're ready. And, trust me. This will be an adventure of a lifetime. I want to know more about your Grecian family and their ancient story. You are my link to the past, Gabby. But think it over. I'll be in town for a few days."

"Thank you," Gabby told her as she took the card.

"Why are you thanking me?"

"For the time."

"I could really use your help, but I'll understand if you don't want to. Thank you for your time. I'll let you get back to work."

Alena left before Gabby could reply. She walked back through the gym and out to the rental car. She got in the car and programmed the GPS to take them to the hotel. Ares just watched her. He was waiting for her to tell him how it went. When she didn't immediately start talking, he broke their silence.

"Well?"

"She wants to think about it."

"Think about it? Why? What did she tell you?" Ares asked her.

"That we need to go back to Greece. Melinda left her somethings that might help us and I want to see them. If she doesn't work out, we'll have to find someone else from Xena's line. Have you found any other traces? Any where?"

"No, the line ends with Melinda and Athena. Gabby Costas is the last of Xena's line. And, we both know that it has to be a female. If she won't do it, we'll have to wait for her to have a kid or something. We need her."

"I know that, but I am not going to force her to help. It has to be her decision. Keep looking for another heir. I'm going to read over the scrolls again," she replied as she pulled back into the Atlanta traffic.

* * *

Inside the gym, Gabby was staring at the card. Her heart leapt at the chance to go back to Greece. She missed the sun, the water, and the wind. She missed her home. The US was never home to her, but her father made a decent living there. She couldn't leave him after the fall of the Kingdom of Greece. Gia was buried in Greece, but they never went back after Gabby did her tours with the Navy as a helicopter gunner. She hadn't seen the isles in years. And as much as she longed to go, she was afraid of what she might find. Her father left for a reason. Her grandfather sent him away when he'd taken up for her Aunt Mel. She knew that Aunt Mel gave them the money to move to the States, but she could still see the want in his eyes. He was a proud sailor for the King in his day. So he wasn't really surprised when Gabby went back to serve.

She grabbed her cell phone and dialed his number. It rang twice. She was in the middle of a sigh, when he answered.

"What's wrong, my little star?"

"A Covington came to see me."

"And?"

"I think they are looking for Xena's remains, Papa."

"Who is it?"

"Dr. Alena C. Lambert. She said she was Janice's granddaughter. She wants me to go with her to Greece."

"Then, go, my little star. Find your destiny. It's time this family found itself again. We've been adrift too long without direction. Lead the way, Little Star. Lead the way."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Gabby stood outside the Westin. She looked up at the elegant hotel and debated what she should do. She was fingering the card in her pocket. She knew that Alena was giving her answers that her grandfather had kept hidden for years, answers that both she and her father wanted. But, she was scared. She didn't know why he hated the Covingtons so much, but she knew that she was to never help them. Even while she was living in Greece and part of the Hellenic Navy, she never went to any of the Covington dig sites. She knew that she might be able to help them, but she never did. Now, she was standing outside the Westin hotel in Atlanta where a Covington was staying and asking for her help. She sighed as she looked up at the impressive building. Finally, she couldn't wait anymore. She called the number that Dr. Alena C. Lambert gave her. She paced outside the hotel on the sidewalk.

"Dr. Al Covington, how can I help you?"

"I'm downstairs," Gabby told her.

"Who is this?"

"Gabby Costas," she replied.

"I'll be right down," Alena told her and hung up.

She waited just inside the lobby. She didn't feel like she had the right to be in the opulent hotel. She felt completely out of place. It wasn't an usual feeling for her, but she still didn't like it. She hated it. She hadn't felt like she belonged in a long time. Serving in the navy and being in the ring were about the only things that kept her sane. Boxing was her life, until it wasn't. She had nothing holding her down, nothing honestly keeping her in Atlanta. Her father wanted answers. She wanted the answers, too. She knew that Alena could help her shed some light on her Aunt Mel's life, but she wondered if was the right time for that.

"I'm surprised to see you," Alena told her as she walked up.

"Really?"

"I wasn't sure that you would actually come see me."

"I am not sure that I've agreed to do anything. I just came here to hear your case. I want to see what you want, first," Gabby replied.

"You're right, very right. Let's go upstairs and you can see what I have. I want you to look over it. I want you to decide to go with us because you want answers and you want to know the truth. There is nothing wrong with wanting to know the truth," Alena told her.

She just nodded as they got onto the elevator. They traveled up to Alena's floor in silence. She was thinking about what Alena was offering her, but she wondered if it could give her more. If she learned the truth about what happened to Aunt Mel and what she was researching would it give her the redemption that she sought? Or, she still be lost and adrift in life? She wasn't living anymore. She was surviving. She needed something more. Boxing couldn't give her that anymore, not after...

"Here we are," Alena said as she opened the door to her room with her key card.

If she thought that the lobby was opulent, she was wrong. The room was extravagant. She'd been in nice hotels when she was boxing, but she'd never seen anything like this. This was just lush and lavish.

"It's a little much. I didn't pick here. My intern did. He seems to think that I needed the...uh...extravagance to work in while I was here," Alena told her.

"Where is he?"

"The next room. We have adjoining rooms. But, this suite has two bedrooms," Alena said.

"Do you want me to stay here?" Gabby asked her as she pointed to the floor.

"No...no...I wasn't insinuating anything. I was just merely stating that if you wished, you could. I don't know what your living arrangements are and I...uh...I'm sorry. That sounded more like a proposition than I wanted it to. I'm sorry. It's just that I really need your help on this," Alena told her.

"Why?"

"You are the last female relative of the Pappas line," Alena replied.

Gabby arched an eyebrow. She wasn't sure what to make of that comment, but it did tell her that Alena had done some extensive research. Hell, she found in at the gym. She had to know more than she was actually letting on, but Gabby didn't know what to ask.

"I am not sure what to ask you right now," Gabby stated.

"I can understand that. I am sure that this is all...very...strange and usual. It is for me as well. By now, I would be at a dig or teaching at the university. But, we've found out some things in some of the old scrolls we have. They have lead us to you and needing you to find something. I am sure that sounds hokey and very odd, but I don't know how else to explain it," Alena said.

"Scrolls?"

"Yes, you're Aunt Mel and my Grandmother found a large cache of scrolls. They are referred to as the Xena scrolls. They were written by my ancestor, Gabrielle of Potedia about the Warrior Princess, Xena of Amphipolis and their adventures. They stopped with Xena's death in Japa...ancient Japan."

"Okay, and?"

"Xena was your ancestor. Her daughter, Eve and the only surviving heir of Xena, was also Gabrielle's heir. Gabrielle was known as the Battling Bard, but she was an Amazon Queen. After Xena's death, she took up the mantle and continued to fight for justice and the greater good. As she aged, Eve began to write about her adventures. It was quite the fantastic find when I found the Gabrielle scrolls, which are known as the Amazon scrolls in certain historical circles."

"So, our ancestors were friends?"

"Yes, they were."

"So our families have always been close?"

"It seems that way, yes," Alena answered.

"So, what is it about these scrolls that has you all worked up?" Gabby inquired.

"I'll have to show you. It'll be easier if you can see it while I explain it. Otherwise, it won't make any sense," Alena replied.

"Fair enough," Gabby said as she followed Alena into another room with computer monitor screens covered in old parchment and a single tablet that Alena was taking notes on.

She watched as Alena picked up the tablet and hit a few buttons. The biggest screen flickered and then zoomed in on the scroll it was showing. Gabby moved further into the room. She was studying the writing. It was obvious a form of Ancient Greek script. She'd seen it before looking through the notes that she'd found in her Aunt Mel's house back in Greece.

"I can read this," Gabby stated.

"You can?"

"Yeah, it was the one thing that _Pappous_ let us learn. _Gia_ thought it was strange, but she encouraged it, too. She always hoped that we would be close to Aunt Mel and what she did. We just never got the chance while she was alive. That was _Gia's_ only regret. We didn't know her. And, I never knew why."

"I think I do."

Gabby cocked her eyebrow in question. She waited for Alena to say more, but it never came. She wondered if it had something to do with her Grandmother Janice and if it did, Gabby wasn't going to push. She decided that she'd wait to ask about it later. For now, she turned back around to study the scrolls and the language that they are written in.

"Eve wrote these?"

"That is what we've surmised, yes," Alena answered.

"The vernacular changes in places. It's strange. Like it's almost Roman in areas, but the Greek tends to override her speech. Then there are some foreign words in there. It's almost like she's using both Greek and Latin to explain it, but I don't know why. Does that make any sense?" Gabby inquired.

"Perfect."

"Why?"

"Eve was raised by Romans, but when Xena rescued her from what she had become, she got in touch with her Grecian roots. Even took to peace for a while and became a prophet of Eli, preaching and teaching about the God of Love. She had quite the following at one point. She traveled to Chin and Japa before returning to Greece and Europe proper. She looked for Gabrielle."

"Her foster mother?"

"No, more like Gabrielle was her stepmom or adopted mom, even while Xena was alive."

"Xena and Gabrielle were..."

"Gabrielle doesn't come out and say it in her scrolls, but it is highly likely that they were lovers. They stopped seeing men after a few years together and except for Gabrielle's ill timed wedding, they never really settled down. After Xena's death, Gabrielle returned to Amazon lands for a few years to grieve and train. When Eve found her, she was hardened and more of a warrior than she'd ever been before. She'd given up chronicling their lives. You can tell from Eve's words that she was lost. Eve stopped being a prophet to stay with Gabrielle and keep her company."

"Did she love her?" Gabby asked.

"Like she was her mother. Eve was given Gabrielle's Rite of Cast as the next Amazon Queen should she die. Eve never took the mantle even though she was made an Amazon, twice. She took the pledge and stayed by Gabrielle side as an important aid, but she always left someone else as Regent. When Gabrielle died, the Regent became Queen in Eve's stead."

"Did she say anything about it?" Gabby inquired.

"Eve wrote about it. She took Gabrielle's ashes back to where Xena's were with the Amazons. Then she sought out Gabrielle's descendant, Sarah. She was Gabrielle's sister, Lila's daughter. She gave Sarah some of Gabrielle's things and some of the items were from the royal Amazonian house. We still have those, but we didn't know what they were at the time."

"Did Eve stay with Sarah?"

"No, Sarah had her own family and Eve went back to the Amazons. The stories stop shortly after that. We don't know what happened to her, but she did have a child at one point. She mentions him and that Sarah took him in after he was of age and couldn't stay with the Amazons. He is your ancestor, but we don't have a full name for him. Just that he was given to Sarah and he stayed in Greece. The lines get very blurry, but Mel Pappas, your great-grandfather, found the line again back in Amphipolis. Seems that Xena's older brother Tores had sons, too. Eventually a boy from Potidea joined his family and was named Sander. It is believed that he is Eve's son, but we aren't sure. He had two children, a boy, Nicos and a girl, Xora. Melinda traced the line with Janice's help back to them."

"So Xena's grandson was named Sander?"

"Yes."

"I remember seeing a box labeled Sander at Aunt Mel's place. I wonder if it is about him. But, what does all that have to do with the scrolls? I don't get it," Gabby stated.

"Eve buried Gabrielle with Xena at a place called Amazon Falls. It isn't in Greece. The Romans tried to eradicate the Amazons completely. Gabrielle hid the tribe. Only a true Amazon or those with Amazonian blood can find it," Alena told her.

"And you need me to help you find it?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you have the blood of an Amazon and it'll take both of us to find it. Gabrielle was very careful in hiding it. Only the blood of her line and that of Xena's would find their final resting place."

"So, you don't want to just find Amazon Falls, you want to find Xena and Gabrielle?"

"Yes."

"For what purpose?"

"Because it is my destiny?" Alena replied in question.

"I'm going to need more than that," Gabby demanded.

"I want to finish what Mel and Janice were doing. They were looking for Amazon Falls when the war broke out. They went back, but things had been looted and removed. It took them years to gather enough to try to find out where to start again."

"But?"

"Mel died and Janice came back to the States. She no longer had the will to look. Oh, she continued her searches, but she never went looking for Amazon Falls because she needed a Pappas to go with her."

"And, Athena wasn't allowed. She had a son and he couldn't get in being male. So now, it's fallen to me?"

"Yes."

"I want to read everything that you have."

"Absolutely."

"That doesn't mean I am going."

"I understand."

"Good."

"I'll leave you alone for now. I'll come back around dinner time and we can discuss it more. That good?"

"Perfect," Gabby answered as she down in a chair and began to read about her ancestor's travels in the Ancient World.


End file.
